What Could Be
by Whoviangirl01
Summary: The Doctor and Rose have ended and survived the catastrophic Battle of Canary Wharf, and now must continue on their travels. With the help of new friends, they now must battle greater threats than they ever have before that will test the boundaries on their relationship. Series 3 rewrite with Rose. 10/Rose
1. Doomsday

Author's Note: This is probably completely insane for me attempt, but I think I'll try anyways. This is the first chapter of my Series Three rewrite with Rose. I tried to make it sound alright, but I'm not sure how I did. This is completely unbeta'd so if this sucks, it's completely my fault.

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Doctor Who.

The end never feels like the end. When you're on the last page of a book, you can tell it's over because everything's tied up in a little bow. Everything solves itself, and even if it's not happy, the characters grow to accept what happened.

What confused Rose, then, was why that wasn't happening right now. She wasn't going to accept being sent away from the Doctor, and she hoped that he wasn't about to accept her leaving either. Her mum, Jackie, certainly wasn't happy. So how could this be the end? Right at the second when Rose came to that conclusion, she felt the Doctor slip something around her neck. She wanted to scream, to yell, to say something that would prevent what she knew was about to happen but someone beat her to it.

"No!" It was Jackie. It stunned Pete enough to make him pause, which gave Rose and Jackie both a change to throw their buttons on the floor.

"How dare you." Jackie said softly. "How dare you!" She was almost in tears at this point. "Doctor, Pete, what were you thinking? How could you be so stupid as to try to make Rose and my decision for us?"

"Jacks, I-" Pete began, reaching out towards Jackie. "I have to go back to my world. It'd be selfish of me to leave them to fend for themselves in the time that we're in. You understand that right?" His expression was pleading, his arms open for Jackie to come to him.

"I do. Pete, I understand your responsibility just as much as I understand the Doctor's. You can't force me to leave my baby girl here, though. She's been all I've had for a while now." Rose could feel the tears threatening to spill over prick her eyes at her mother's words. "M' sorry, I really am but I can't leave her."

A lone tear rolled down Rose's cheek and she felt a familiar arm wrap itself around her. She looked up at the Doctor, hesitating for only a moment before burying herself in his shirt. It was comforting to have his now familiar double-hearts beating near her ear.

"Jackie, please don't make me go without you. I've lived alone for too long now." Pete begged. "Mum, you've got to. I swear I'll be fine." Rose paused for a moment. She wouldn't be fine. No matter how old she got, she was sure she would always need her mum. "You've done so much for me, you need to go with him! Remember all those times when-"

"No! I said no! I'm not going to leave you, and I'm sorry Pete, but you're going to have to go without me!" Jackie yelled, and it echoed through the plain white walls of the room. There was a silence for a moment before Mickey cut in. Rose had almost forgotten he was there.

"Pete, M' sorry, but we need to leave soon."

"Rose, you could still go." There was the Doctor. Rose was beginning to think that maybe he didn't want her around. Maybe she annoyed him to the point of madness. But she couldn't risk it though, and Rose knew that the Doctor should never be alone.

"Never. When are you gonna get it through your thick head?" Rose gave him a tight smile. "I made my choice a long time ago, and I'm never gonna leave you." And at that, something visibly softened in the Doctor's eyes. He looked less like the Oncoming Storm and more like the man she knew from their quiet moments in the TARDIS.

"Well," Pete interrupted them, "I suppose this is goodbye, then."

Jackie nodded, and Rose noticed her shaking hands. Why wouldn't she just go? This was killing Rose to see her mum this way. The next thing she heard was a click, then Pete and Mickey disappearing out of this universe forever. Mickey, her former best friend. Pete, her dat. They were gone.

"Mum, are you alright?"

"Of course, sweetheart. I'm with you and the Doctor, aren't I?" Jackie gave her a smile, and Rose wondered how many times Jackie had given her that smile after crying over some old photographs, or feeling her heart break one more time.

"Rose, come on." The Doctor said gently, guiding her to the computer he needed her at. "We need to get started." He gave her one last look before darting over to Jackie and showing her where to stand.

"Now, Jackie, you sit right here and keep your head low. You don't have to hold on to anything because you doing have that background radiation, but Daleks and Cybermen could still his you on their way out." He explained quickly before hopping back over to Rose and looking over her shoulder.

"We've got Cybermen on their way up." Rose told him.

"Let's get started then. Rose, you're over here," he said, gesturing to the lever on the right side of the room, "and I'm over here." The Doctor stopped and stood in front of Rose, grinning.

"That's more like it." She said, grinning right back at him. "The old team!"

"Hope and Glory, Mutt and Jeff, Shiver and Shake."

"Which one's Shiver?"

"Oh," the Doctor said confidently, "I'm Shake!"

"Would you to stop flirting already? The world's in danger!" Jackie said, causing both the Doctor and Rose to smirk before running over to their individual clamps.

"Jackie, remember, stay down. Rose, push the red button!" As soon as he finished speaking, a wind blew, pulling Rose toward the hungry mouth of the Void with more power than Rose would have ever thought possible. Her hair was all over her face and her arms were already becoming sore from having to hold on for so long, but when her eyes met the Doctor's, she couldn't help but grin. Everything was working out, solving itself. And, Rose suddenly realised, that could signify the end of her story.

"Lever offline."

The scary thing was that Rose knew she had to fix it because there was no other option. She began to slowly let go of the clamp and lean towards the lever, feeling the Doctor's terrified gaze on her.

"Rose, wait!" There was her mum, jumping up from her position and crawling under the tornado of aliens to Rose.

"I've got you, sweetheart." Jackie smiled as she set the lever easily back in place, spinning back around to face Rose. The Cybermen and Daleks continued streaming into the Void, just like they were supposed to. Until one Cyberman came with its arms outstretched. Until it slammed straight into Jackie.

It all seemed to happen in slow motion for Rose: the Cyberman, Jackie's eyes becoming glazed over before shutting completely, the Cyberman dragging Jackie into the Void with it. Then Pete appeared out of nowhere, suddenly grabbing Jackie and disappearing once more. That was when everything became silent. The Void crumpled closed like a paper was and Rose dropped to the floor. She was faintly aware of the Doctor calling her name, of gathering her in his arms, of a sob escaping her own body. A pain like she had never known washed over and she just at on the floor with the Doctor, sobs wracking her body and the Doctor holding her the whole time. _

Rose wasn't sure how long had passed before the Doctor helped her up and gently guided her to the TARDIS. The tears had stopped eventually, and after a few hours, she had managed to even out her breathing.

"You need some rest." The Doctor's voice shocked her; they had sat in silence for a long time now.

"I'm alright." She mumbled, barely able to keep her voice steady. He gave her a small smile and got up from the console, walked over to her, and picked her up.

"Oi! Put me down! I can walk, you know."

"Well, obviously, but I doubt you'd walk yourself to bed." He replied in a matter of fact tone. Smiling despite herself, Rose realized how much lighter she felt being able to banter with him. There was a comfortable silence before he twisted her door knob opened and put her down in her room.

"Promise me you'll at least try to get some sleep." The Doctor requested. She stared at him for a moment.

"Okay…" She paused, "But you've gotta promise me something."

"Anything."

"Don't blame yourself for this." The Doctor opened his mouth to argue but Rose continued. "It's not your fault and it never ever will be."

"Never say never ever."

"I just did. Do you agree to my conditions or not?" She watched him hesitate and wondered if he had been blaming himself. Oh, who was she kidding? Of course he was and she probably wasn't helping at all.

"Yes. I promise." The Doctor was staring at his Converses, not meeting her eyes. Finally, he looked back at her. "Good night."

"Good night." Rose watched him walk down the hall and then shut her door. The TARDIS had already dimmed her lights, so all she had to do was get changed and go to bed. Taking a deep breath, Rose undressed and redressed herself in less than a minute. She was exhausted. As soon as she hit the bed, though, it hit her again. Her mum was gone, possibly dead. Rose would never know if she made it. And if by some miracle Jackie did manage to live after that rather harsh blow, Rose would never know what happened with her and Pete. Her pillow quickly became damp with tears, and Rose closed her eyes. Maybe in the morning it would all be a dream.

"Rose." Someone was shaking her awake. "Rose, wake up."

It was the Doctor, staring at her with wide eyes. She hoped he didn't notice the mascara stains on her pillows. or the cold sweat that had covered her body during the many nightmares that had plagued her sleep.

"I'm awake, I'm awake." Rose replied groggily.

"This is important. Are you listening?" He looked at her with concern.

"Yes!" This was getting ridiculous. "What is it?"

"I think I've got it!" the Doctor jumped up and ran a hand through his hair.

"Got what?"

"A way contact your mother."


	2. Saying Goodbye

**Saying Goodbye**

**Author's Note: I just wanted to mention that this was a difficult chapter to write because I had to rewatch Doomsday, and if this is even possible, it is more painful the fourth(yes the fourth) time. I promised myself I wouldn't cry, and here I am, even worse than the first time. Trust me, that's pretty bad.**

"Mum."

Jackie eyes snapped open and she jumped out of bed

"Pete!" Jackie shook Pete awake roughly. "Pete, did you hear that?"

He rubbed his eyes sleepily and switched on a lamp, finally looking at Jackie. She was sliding out of her pyjamas into a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt.

"Wake up! Come on, I'll go get Mickey and meet you out by the Jeep."

"Jacks, what's the-"

"It was Rose!" She said excitedly. "The Doctor probably found a way for them to get to us. We've got to go now!"

Rose finally let her mind relax after concentrating so long on one thing: her mum. The Doctor had found a way to send one last message to her, so that she would know that Rose was alright.

"Thanks for this." Rose tilting her head towards the Doctor's. "Seriously, thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me."

He beamed at her, and she almost thought she saw a tiny smidge of guilt for a moment, before it disappeared behind a layer of shields.

"I couldn't just as well let you go on without knowing what happened to her." He grinned teasingly. "She'd of found a way to slap me through both of our universes."

Rose rolled her eyes. "You know, she only slapped you once."

"Can still feel it, though"

She smiled softly, and let him take her hand. He was standing right next to her, in front of the console screen, helping her say goodbye to her mum. He'd told her once that he didn't do domestics, and only now could she appreciate the irony in that. The Doctor, the Oncoming Storm, eating Christmas Dinner, drinking tea with an average London family, saying goodbye to someone's mum. Now, he was looking at her like he did and she almost thought that he-no. No, of course he didn't. And even if he did, it wouldn't matter. Her mum had always just assumed that they were together despite Rose's constant assurances that they weren't. Oh god, her mum. Rose rubbed her eyes quickly before the tears could start. She could do this, could keep herself together, if only for his sake. She'd been with the Doctor long enough to know how he thought sometimes, and the more she got upset, the more he would hurt. Rose wouldn't do that to him.

"Rose, are you ready?" The Doctor asked quietly. "This is going to feel a little bit strange. Just close your eyes and relax."

She looked up at him and nodded, gripping his hand a little tighter. As she closed her eyes, she thought she could feel a light breeze across her face, but no. That was impossible, they were on the TARDIS, in space where there couldn't be a breeze. Then, in her mind's eye, Rose saw her surrounding change from the coral and metal grating she remembered to a grey, cool beach.

"Rose?" Suddenly, her mum's voice cut through the air. Jackie was standing right across from her, and Rose wondered how she'd missed it before.

"Mum," And she couldn't help the sadness that spread through her body knowing this was the last chance she'd ever have to say it. "Mum, we're here. Me an' the Doctor, we're here." Jackie's eyes widened and she took a step closer.

"You look like ghosts." The Doctor appeared beside Rose and pointed the sonic screwdriver somewhere towards what looked like the ocean. She guessed whatever he had done had worked because her mum began walking towards them.

"Rose, sweetheart, where are you? Are you actually here?" She reached her hand out to comfort Rose, only to find her hand go right through her. The Doctor's eyes were apologetic when he responded, and Rose knew this was hurting him just like it was her.

"We're on the TARDIS, Jackie." He said gently.

"What use is that, then? Why can't you two just come through properly?" Rose almost laughed at her mother's usual attitude, something that was comforting in a way. The Doctor had explained briefly earlier to her why they couldn't come through, but she really had only been half listening. Her mind had been so focussed on finding a way to stick with the Doctor that she hadn't listened to any of his explanations or even contemplated the consequences of her decision. Had she made the right choice? Did he even want her with him?

"I'm sorry, I really am, but we can't. I can't. I tried, but this is the only way. There's a tiny gap between the universes left and it takes a lot of power to send this message. We're in orbit around a supernova." He looked at Rose and she thought her insides might melt at the sincerity in his gaze. "I'm burning up a sun for you to say goodbye."

That was when she felt awful for questioning her decision even for a second. She had promised him her forever, and she wasn't about to take that back. Her mum lived her, but she didn't need her like the Doctor did. Jackie had Pete and Mickey, but the Doctor had no family. No one except for her right now. She took a breath before beginning again. No use in wasting the last few moments she would have with her mum.

"Where are we, anyways?" She asked, desperate for any conversation whatsoever.

"You'll never guess! This alien made us drive all the way out to Norway! 50 miles out of Bergen, that is." Jackie paused, looking around at her surroundings. "At least we're at a beach, that's what I told Pete. It's got some beautiful scenery, actually. He says it's called Dårlig Ulv Stranden."

"Dalek?" Rose and the Doctor exclaimed at the same instant.

"Dårlig." Jackie enunciated, rolling her eyes. "It's Norwegian for bad. This translates as 'Bad Wolf Bay'."

Rose felt her eyes widen, before relaxing again. Probably just another coincidence.

"How long have we got, Doctor?" She asked.

"About two minutes."

"I'm never going to see you again, am I, Rose?" Jackie asked resignedly, as if already knowing the answer. Rose felt the tears well up before blinking them back again.

"'M sorry, mum, but we can't. Doctor says both universes would collapse." She felt the Doctor stand up a little straighter beside her.

"So?" Jackie half smiled, and Rose laughed despite wondering the same thing herself.

The Doctor looked around them towards the jeep where Pete and Mickey were waiting. "You've got Pete and Mickey, then."

"Yeah, I suppose I do. Then there's the baby, of course…"

"Oh my god, mum!" Rose felt her heart skip a beat and the now familiar stinging feeling behind her eyes. She was going to have a little sister, or brother, and she was never ever going to see them.

"Really? I would have though you'd have been too old-" She cut the Doctor off with a sharp elbow to the side.

"Yeah, I'm three weeks gone." Her mum seemed to have either not heard, or ignored the last comment.

"That's great. 'M really happy for you and Pete." Rose smiled as widely as she could, trying not to show the misery she felt inside. God, did it hurt.

"Listen, Rose, I've got to tell you some things that I'm not sure I can fit into a minute." Her mum hesitated, apparently uncertain of what to say next. "I wrote letters to you and the Doctor, have been for a while now, just in case one day you guys came back and I was…gone. I figured you'd find them in the flat eventually."

Finally, the floodgates opened, and tears spilled out of her eyes.

"Goodbye, Mum. I love you!"

"I love you too, sweetheart. And Doctor? Promise me something." The Doctor stepped forward. "Take care of my baby girl." Jackie said seriously, and the Doctor smiled sadly.

"I give you my word."

"Rose-" Jackie started as she turned back to her daughter, but before she could finish, the beach abruptly faded, leaving Rose in the TARDIS console room.

"Mum." It escaped more like a strangled sob than an actual word, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." The Doctor whispered hauntingly, taking her into his arms. "I swear, it'll all be fine." She broke apart from him and made direct eye contact.

"I know."

"What?" A new voice said. Both the Doctor and Rose jumped and turned around to see an angry bride in her wedding dress standing a ways from them looking terrified.

"What the hell is this place?"

**A/N: I'm really not sure I did that justice at all, but I really wanted to update this. Anyways, thank you guys so much who reviewed. Seriously, it really encourages me to update more quickly. (Hint, hint) I do appreciate all the feedback from the last chapter, though, and I hope this one wasn't too bad. **


End file.
